Making Money

Invest What You Consume

Have you ever asked yourself: How do I get rich? Here is one recipe served with a bit of coffee.

I do love analyzing and playing around with what-if scenarios. Lately, I have asked myself the question: What if I would have turned my expenses into investments over the last decade. What would have happened?

Starbucks made its way to Vienna in 2002. I remember it very well, walking by the first Austrian Starbucks in the 1st district. “We have plenty of coffee shops in Vienna already,” I was thinking, “Vienna basically has a huge culture build around drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and getting offended by the waiters.” Who wants to go to an American overpriced coffeehouse?

And man, was I wrong. Almost 20 years later, I turned from a non-believer into a believer in the Starbucks story. When I started traveling for business and smartphones became big, it was the WiFi Place hunt. And well, Starbucks always had one. Their storytelling is becoming the third place between home and office, did ring my bell.

Every time I order a coffee somewhere in the world, I get WiFi, and the waiters want to know my name. Thus, Starbucks became deeply engrained in my mind. Wi-Fi is not that important anymore as the entire mobile business models changed.